Southern DHB introducing a District wide Palliative Care Mod

Media release

2 October 2014

Southern DHB introducing a District wide Palliative Care Model

Southern DHB is introducing a District wide Palliative Care Model which means the referral process for palliative care will be the same at Southland Hospital as Dunedin Hospital.

In Dunedin the Palliative Care Advisory Service (PCAS) was established in 2006 and is supported by Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialists, Helen Sawyer and Gayle Elliott and Dr Brendon Rae (Palliative Medicine Physician) who are based at Dunedin Hospital.

The service in Southland historically has been a joint model between Hospice Southland and the DHB.

To introduce the new model of care in Southland Hospital, Southern DHB has welcomed Leah Cavanagh into her new role as full time Palliative Care Nurse based at the Hospital. Leah who was formerly a Cancer Nurse Co-ordinator at Southland Hospital will support palliative care in the inpatient setting in Southland Hospital. Leah will officially begin taking referrals from 6th October 2014.

“The aim of a hospital based specialist palliative care service within the Southern DHB is to incorporate a palliative care approach into the provision of a quality service which meets the needs of the patients, families and staff in all services and departments,” said Southern DHB Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Helen Sawyer.

The Palliative Care Advisory nursing teams receive referrals at each site and provide advice on management and care planning as requested by the referring team, and when required Dr Rae and the Hospice medical teams provide assessment support and advice. The focus is on the hospital inpatient population, whilst the Hospices focus on the community.

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